As he prepares to return to Tottenham Hotspur with QPR, the former national
coach’s principles still ring true

It was 40 years ago when Glenn Hoddle first glided into White Hart Lane, the apprentice eventually becoming the sorcerer. Hoddle is back at the home of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday for the first time in 11 years, this time as a coach with Queens Park Rangers, and the memories will come flooding back for Spurs supporters.

Now 56, Hoddle has returned before, of course, not least in a disappointing spell as manager from 2001 to 2003, but the locals will prefer to recall those many magical moments when one of their own, a boyhood Spurs fan, wore the lilywhite shirt and embodied the club’s credo: “To dare is to do.”

Spurs fans will remember his 490 games and 110 goals, scoring on his first start, showing the nimble feet of a Nureyev in dancing across the mud and powering a strike past Peter Shilton, the Stoke City keeper.

They will smile at any mention of Hoddle running from his own half against Oxford United, slicing through the defence, wrongfooting Peter Hucker with a twitch of the hips and almost arrogantly sliding the ball into the empty net; 65 yards, four touches, hailed as “a moment of true mastery’’ by the commentator Brian Moore. Hoddle raised his left arm, then his right and blew kisses to the adoring congregation gathered at the Lane.

Spurs disciples will savour the memory of that one-two with Ossie Ardiles and balletic right‑footed volley past Gary Bailey, the Manchester United goalkeeper. They will never forget the Cruyff Turn and chip to beat Steve Sherwood at Watford. They will cherish the image of Johan Cruyff seeking Hoddle’s shirt after the Spurs man’s elegant passing masterminded a Uefa Cup defeat of Feyenoord.

They will also reminisce about their most creative player going in goal, against Leeds in 1979, against Manchester United and Norwich City in 1980. They will think of Hoddle’s determination when he had his forehead sliced open against Bohemians of Prague, and played on. A natural sportsman, and a promising fly-half in his youth, Hoddle was tougher than the ‘Glenda’ of fans’ folklore, although he was fortunate that Steve Perryman proved a willing minder.

Hoddle is revered at the Lane because he dared to take risks, because he floated over rutted pitches, avoiding the bruising attentions of markers, believing that football should always be about elan rather than humdrum efficiency. He dared to make fans dream.

The nation’s troubled relationship with brawn-over-brain cost England. They could have built around Hoddle but during his 53 appearances he was rarely deployed in his best position behind the striker, where Arsène Wenger used him so successfully with Mark Hateley at Monaco. What a waste.

To dare has always been in Hoddle’s DNA, if not England’s. Even now, Hoddle’s mindset characterises his vision of how the game should be played, with two strikers, with a ball-playing centre-half, with flair. He has always promoted skill. Hoddle gave David Beckham his England debut, believed in the teenaged Michael Owen, fielded Paul Scholes where he could most damage opponents and kept faith with Graeme Le Saux even after a bad mistake against Romania at France 98.

Hoddle has always represented the antidote to the English disease of being suspicious about those who dare. It is why Hoddle’s presence back in an English dugout should be so welcomed. He was a great player, a tactically enlightened coach but at times a flawed man-manager and will forever be associated with that strange faith-healer, Eileen Drewery, and particularly those despicable remarks about the disabled that cost him his England job in 1999. The memory remains of a chaotic London press conference confirming Hoddle’s dismissal, including a gate-crashing England fan screaming that Hoddle was an “absolute disgrace”. He had to go, but England have not played with such consistent tactical discipline, intelligence and flair since.

Two years later, Hoddle returned home, overseeing 41 wins, 18 draws and 45 losses in his 29-month sojourn as Spurs manager. By the end, the players were not responding and his man-management was again questioned. The club give only a perfunctory appraisal of his time in charge, limiting their verdict on the website to: “He enjoyed a successful spell at Southampton before returning to the Lane as manager between 2001-03.” There was no: “He did well to finish ninth and 10th.” No indication of the financial restraints inhibiting team rebuilding. There was no: “He tried to play good football.”

Even in his final game, a defeat by Southampton at the Lane in 2003, Hoddle pursued his belief in a 3-5-2 system now apparently back in vogue. Le Saux was in opposition that day, and provides insight into Hoddle’s use of 3-5-2 from their England days, notably in qualifying for France ’98, and during the World Cup itself.

“We worked tirelessly with Glenn on the system in training,’’ Le Saux, Hoddle’s left wing-back, recalled. “With clubs we worked 4-4-2. We were regimented. Glenn didn’t have to convince me because as an attacking full-back it was something I did anyway, I was up and down, but he definitely had to convince the centre-backs because suddenly they are playing with three.”

The players bought into Hoddle’s teaching because of his enthusiasm for the system and the attacking possibilities. Oft accused of being a poor communicator, Hoddle proved inspiring in the days at Bisham Abbey training and on the road. When he was appointed as a coach at QPR, the mind immediately drifted back to his tactical triumph in Rome in 1997, setting up England perfectly to secure the qualifying point they needed.

Hoddle used a triumvirate of Sol Campbell, Tony Adams and Gareth Southgate against Italy. Those three then started the World Cup before Gary Neville succeeded Southgate. Le Saux noted how the three centre-halves were faced with a conundrum of positioning, particularly the wide two. “The problem if there’s only one striker is that three are marking one or it’s one-v-one because the wide centre-backs have pushed on,’’ Le Saux said. “If you’re a clever striker you just go and stand on the deeper centre‑back. Glenn had to convince a few of the centre-backs when he was England manager. I can’t imagine Tony Adams taking to it that easily.’’

The obvious flaw with Hoddle’s beloved 3-5-2, one that Mauricio Pochettino will seek to exploit, is the space behind the advanced wing-backs that can be invaded by quick-thinking, swift-moving opponents. Wing-backs can be drawn out of position, as Le Saux discovered to his cost in that loss to Romania.

“I was playing against Dan Petrescu,’’ Le Saux recalled. “He started off on the [Romania] right with me, then he came inside and carried on going. So I started following him.

“The further I was going the more I was thinking: ‘I’m leaving a massive space here.’ I should have gone to a point and then passed him on to someone else but there wasn’t anyone. We were all over the place. I ended up following him into that channel where there was a massive space. There was a long ball over the top, I made a mistake, he clouted me and scored.’’

Communication is key to making Hoddle’s favoured 3-5-2 work. Le Saux can see England using it again. “Luke Shaw is perfectly made for it. Totally. Leighton Baines is not quite as powerful a runner as Luke. Glen Johnson could do it on the right.”

Such a tactical switch is unlikely under Roy Hodgson but whatever the merits of 3-5-2, and even if QPR find only pain at the Lane, Hoddle’s imagination and daring has been missed by the game.